Activists planning tour to urge new immigration rules

June 14, 2007|By Ruth Morris Staff Writer

Immigrant activists gathered at Miami's Amtrak station Wednesday to announce a cross-country campaign to press Congress to pass an immigration overhaul.

A group of 15 will board a train to Washington, D.C., on Sunday, while 100 business owners, clergy and community leaders travel there by bus in the Dreams Across America Tour. Once in Washington, they will join activists from other cities in lobbying lawmakers to restart work on the immigration bill the Senate shelved last week.

"For the last several months the immigration debate has focused on conditions and punishments," Miami Archbishop John Favalora said of provisions in the Senate bill that would charge undocumented immigrants thousands of dollars in fines and fees for legal status. "It is our responsibility to reframe that conversation to emphasize gratitude and compassion."

Conservative lawmakers heavily opposed the bill, contending it does little to limit future immigration while offering amnesty to scofflaws. They say the 12 million or so immigrants living in the United States illegally would leave of their own accord if authorities crack down harder on bosses who hire them.

The bill's backers say legalization is the only realistic solution to draw immigrants out of the shadows and onto the tax rolls.

Immigrant advocates had mixed reactions to the Senate plan. They welcomed the idea of offering legal status to undocumented immigrants, but faulted provisions that would limit visa petitions for family members.

Organizers of Sunday's train trip said they hoped to recast the debate in more personal terms.

"Immigrants have wishes and dreams and aspirations like any of us do," said Maria Rodriguez, head of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. "If we want their work, work, work, we must recognize their humanity too."

The train will set off from Miami on Sunday at 8:50 a.m., with buses leaving from Miami and Tampa later in the day. Many of those traveling will be students who plan to stage a mock graduation Monday on Capitol Hill to highlight hurdles they face in attending U.S. universities. Undocumented immigrants generally must pay out-of-state college fees, which are up to four times higher than in-state rates.

Colombian-born Rudi Navarra, who completed a bachelor's and master's degree in the United States, said that even as a legal immigrant he ran into difficulties. His student visa blocked him from accepting a paid internship. He also spent thousands on lawyers' bills and processing fees to get the visa, expenses he said were beyond the means of many bright students.

"Even though I was within the system, it was still a very difficult trek," said Navarra, who lives in Fort Lauderdale and works with the Democracia Ahora Hispanic advocacy group.

Like other immigrant advocates, Navarra also took issue with a provision of the Senate bill that would limit U.S. citizens' ability to petition family members from overseas to join them. Navarra's mother, who is a U.S. citizen, sponsored him for residency. But the Senate bill would cancel that application and channel him into a merit-based selection process instead.

"There are some good things and there are some very bad things about the bill," he said. "The bill is very weak in terms of keeping families together."

Ruth Morris can be reached at rmorris@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5012.